Shaping the Afghan Transition: The Air Power Dimension

The Western powers are facing the end game in Afghanistan. Whether what they do in the next few months is a transition or an exit remains up in the air. I mean this quite literally.

If the Afghans as a nation are going to work together to shape a counter-insurgency and defense strategy, air power is a crucial lynchpin.

This is true for multiple reasons.

First, the geography of Afghanistan makes this an air-connected territory, not a road connected one.

Second, the conditions of operation are challenging and require robust and maintainable air systems to support Afghan forces.

Third, the US and NATO have demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt that airpower is a fundamental element of security and defense “ground” operations. The demonstration effect is palpable in Afghanistan. Leaving the Afghans with little or no operational air capability would be a statement of neglect by the exiting NATO forces.

Afghanistan is a mountainous country roughly the size of Texas with isolated valleys and provinces far removed from the capital in Kabul due to its rugged topography.

Afghanistan is also still lacking a modern and comprehensive road network which makes having an effective Air Force all the more important.

Mobility within the country and around the battlefield is a primary mission for the Afghan Air Force, which has already begun to prove itself in humanitarian relief during floods as well as in military operations around the country.

Virtually all of the national American press has discussed the competition for the Light Air Support (LAS) USAF contract to provide LAS aircraft to the Afghans. Much of the press has focused on what Lenin called Kto Kgo or “Who can do what to whom?”

But the real question was posed by Nathan Hodge of the Wall Street Journal: U.S. Builds Afghan Air Base: But Where are the Planes?

As the Afghans shape a capability, the U.S. and its allies can find a plug and play force with whom to work and to provide support and escalation options in times of a

Taliban surge or other unpredictable developments.

Airpower is crucial to every aspect of operations in the Afghan Area of Operations, and crucial to hot pursuit of the Taliban who do not respect lines on a geographical map.

Interviews we have conducted with American and French military operators in Afghanistan have hit hard on a key theme: airpower is central to today’s operations in Afghanistan and there is a clear need to arm the Afghan allies with a functional capability along the same lines.

As SLD’s Murielle Delaporte, commented upon her return from Afghanistan embedded with the French forces:

SLD: How important is air support to the Afghans and to the French forces?

Delaporte: It is everything. It is one of the key elements and will grow in importance as the transition evolves. The French military helos will become proportionally a greater part of the force as withdrawal accelerates (i.e. remaining at approximately the same level while other units drawdown). Especially as the Mirages leave the combat theater, the role of the helos in providing air support tends to go up.

The Afghan military population has really come to appreciate air support as a key element of future success, as well as security (a Medevac ability being in particular part of any operation). One French officer told me that the Afghan helo force should become increasingly significant in enabling the Afghan security and defense forces, as the Coalition forces gradually enable them to take over.

SLD: As we face transition in Afghanistan, one option clearly is to rely more on the Special Forces type of support to the Afghans against the insurgency. Your experience in many ways presages such an effort. How would your experience shape understanding from a professional military point of view of how to best support the Afghans with a Special Forces type of support?

General Walters: Our role will be to support the Afghan security forces. You’re going to have to support those guys, and they’re going to be much more distributed. You’re not going to have the battalions out there that you support people on the FABs. It’s going to have to be from a central location. And the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) is going to have to be good, and it’s going to have to be there quickly.

In the end, we have to be able to prove to the Afghan security forces that if something happens, this platoon is good enough until we get someone in there.

If you ever need more than a platoon’s worth of trigger pullers in a district center, the V22s is how you’re going to get there quickly and decisively enough to matter.

The Afghan National Army and Afghan Security Forces understand from their perspective, how important air is. We have made them big consumers.

They know that the air is there for them; they’ll go out and operate. I’ve had more than one brigade commander tell me that if it wasn’t for the medevac, it wasn’t for the resupply, and if it wasn’t for the aviation fires, he didn’t think he could get the battalions out operating like they do. Because they’ve learned that if they get hurt, we’ll fix them. They know if they run out of bullets, we’ll get them bullets. And if they’re hungry or thirsty, we’ll get them food and water.

As the U.S. looks forward to work with allies worldwide in the years to come on COIN and related operations, the U.S. will not be bringing the entire gamut of capability to the party. Working with allies in current and projected financial conditions requires a new formula: the U.S. supports allies who can fend for themselves, up to a point.

And the model has already been highlighted by the 12th USAF in working with Columbia: what needs to happen is to recognize this model and move ahead in global support for these types of operations with the U.S. providing its complement to those allies willing to field counter-insurgency airpower.

As Ed Timperlake emphasized:

The 12th is supporting nations just off our shore and recently held a U.S. Air Power demonstration in celebration of 100 years of aviation in the Dominican Republic.

Unheralded success has just been achieved by this partnership between SOUTHCOM and the Dominican Republic Air Force flying the Embraer Air Super Tucano. This remarkable and replicable success is made possible by U.S. “Hi” ISR technology in partnership with the Dominican Republic “Lo” technology the Super Tucano.

It has not been widely reported that this war against drug barons is being won in the sky.

Although drug money is unrelenting in finding ways to supply their corrosive product for now in the war against narco-criminials and terrorist this is a huge accomplishment, and the opening headline from Dominican Today quoted above says it all.

Along with the success in Dom Rep, the Colombian AF is wining the fight against the FARC with sensors and shooters—again the Super Tucano.

Consequently, this “Hi-Lo” mix is beginning to look like a winning formula for world wide partnerships between the U.S. and other nations by using American ISR that can give hot vectors in both the air-to-air and air-to-ground mission to a Light Armed Attack Aircraft (LAAR) like the Super Tucano.

And if we return to Afghanistan, we can underscore what a transition strategy might look like.

Rugged ops assets for helo, fixed wing attack and ISR as well as lift capabilities into the hands of the Afghans and let the US Army and USMC work with them in hot pursuit of the Taliban who know now geographical boundary in the region. The US Army would highlight their role for Apaches and the USMC the role of the Osprey.

Together working together with an air-enabled Afghan force, the U.S. could continue to influence outcomes necessary in the war against terrorism and at the same time pull out most of our troops.

This would be a war winning formula, which the US Army might want to look at for its global future.

We are going to look at several aspects of a projected air power transition in Afghanistan and how the US and its allies might be able to work with the Afghans in the years ahead.

The key question can be simply put: how can the Afghans be best trained and equipped to support over the long run air operations in support of counter-insurgency and defense missions?

There is no point in transferring unique Western technologies, which can not be supported in the rugged Afghan conditions by Afghan technicians. Training can provide opportunities for continued solid working relationships between Western forces and Afghans and putting the right equipment into Afghan hands can provide both significant independence for Afghans and working relationships with the West for years to come.

In other words, there are multiple variables interacting with one another to create a favorable outcome.

The West and its allies sort out the right kind of support and engagement strategy;

The Afghans are trained appropriately to the missions required;

Rugged ops equipment maintainable by Afghans is put in place;

And proper engagement capabilities from the West are available to plug in play with Afghan forces when appropriate.

We will look at each of these variables in the forthcoming series.

In 2010, we published a slideshow on the tough operating conditions in Afghanistan which provided a baseline on understanding the operational challenges. I am including it here as well.

The terrain and geography dictate the challenging nature of military operations. Lighter equipment is often necessary because of the operations in mountains. Winds, dust and dirt create an environment where tents are a regular feature.

Air connectivity is provided by rotorcraft, which has high demands for maintenance for rotorcraft, and unmanned and manned aircraft. Air dropping of supplies is often required to support deployed forces. Command and control needs to rely on non-line of sight communications.

This is a demanding and costly operational environment, which underscores the need to operate in a distributed operational approach sustained by a mobile logistics infrastructure. The absence of roads is a major challenge to provide mobility and logistical support to the troops, so that airlift remains a key element for operations in Afghanistan.

The photos in this slide show underscore the interaction between military operations and the Afghan environment.

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The first three photos show USMC operations in Helmand province.

“A desolate patch of Afghan desert has been transformed into the Marine Corps’ newest installation in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Marines and sailors from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, have been working night and day to establish Camp Belleau Wood, named after the famous World War I battle in which 3/6 valiantly fought many years ago.In a matter of days, the Marines have made Camp Belleau Wood into a functional military camp that is continually growing and improving at an exponential rate. The Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based battalion moved from Camp Dwyer earlier in the week to their current location at Camp Belleau Wood. From that point, the battalion has been conducting military operations while continuing to build the camp from the ground up.”

The operations in Afghanistan rely heavily on the use of various forms of airpower.

Photo 4 shows the Osprey during Operate Cobra’s Anger. The tiltorotor flew general support operations throughout the operation and provided the advantages of its flexibility and troop carrying size to advantage.

Photos 5, 6 and 7 show an implicit advantage of the Osprey. The Osprey is the functional equivalent in operations of 3 CH-46s and the use of two FOBs (forward operating bases) or FARPS (Forward Armament and Refueling points.

The FARP Soldiers are responsible for fueling and arming helicopters supporting battlespace owners and maneuver elements within Task Force-Mountain Warrior’s area of operations.

The unit of approximately a dozen Soldiers work 24 hours a day, seven days a week refuel all the military and contract helicopters, as well as support the ground elements on Forward Operating Base Wright with fuel for generators and vehicles.

The multiple roles of air support, include transporting equipment, ammunition, fuel, food, troops and various and sundry items for the logistics and sustainment needs of the troops and the equipment deployed throughout Afghanistan.

Photos 11 and 12 show the role of airlift in bringing ground equipment to land-locked Afghanistan.

Virtually all of the new M-ATVs have been delivered by air. These photos show Tech. Sgt. Antonio Munoz, NCOIC and instructor loadmaster from the Transit Center C-17 detachment, guiding an MRAP-all terrain vehicle into a C-17 Globemaster III prior to shipment to Afghanistan.

The new M-ATVs are better equipped to withstand current combat conditions. Several C-17s provide airlift for military service members and cargo. (Credit, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing).

Photo 13 highlights the airdrop support role of the USAF for ground troops.

And innovations are being shaped in this role. For example, the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron dropped 56 containerized delivery systems over three different drop zones within Afghanistan from the same aircraft on the same day January 27th which had never been done before.

The 82nd Airborne Corps’ new rigging facility at Kandahar Airfiled will allow Soliders to build more CDS bundles filled with supplies needed to be airdropped to FOBs within Afghanistan.

The 772ned Expeditionary Airlift Squadrons airdrop support will then be increased by 250%.(Credit, 451st Air Expeditionary Air Wing).

A key air support element is the A-10 in the Afghan operations. The demanding environment requires keen attention to the maintenance side of operations.

Photo 14 shows Senior Airman David English is seen installing a left rudder actuator on an A-10 Thunderbolt II Dec. 10, 2009, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

The left rudder actuator is a device that controls the rear flaps. Airman English is a crew chief with the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron maintenance flight. (Credit, U.S. Air Force).

The USAF rescue efforts are significant as well, notably in providing medivac missions.

Again the demanding environment places the air support role for medivac missions at the forefront of operational requirements.

Photo 15 shows U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter from the 66th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron casts a shadow on the ground as it responds to medical-evacuation request Jan. 10, over Kandahar province, Afghanistan. (Credit, US Air Forces Central Public Affairs).

The detachment is conducting operations in southern Afghanistan, providing critical water sources and self-sustainability to U.S. and coalition forces assigned to the area (Credit: Navy visual service).